


order and meaning

by Rosse



Series: Assorted Character Drabbles of IDFK [7]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Stream of Consciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-03
Updated: 2014-04-03
Packaged: 2018-01-18 01:49:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1410523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosse/pseuds/Rosse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>musings on two legendary teams, from the point of view of children in a family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	order and meaning

The eldest child is the most loved, despite the eyerolling and rumours that it’s all about the talented middle child. She, however, is the one to protect. The one whose life has been relatively untouched by the reality of the shinobi lifestyle - she has a family at home and love all around her. She stabilises her younger brothers and they adore her, despite the arguments and name-calling that all three partake in. She stands tall and strong, her fists curled and ready to protect her brothers because she is the oldest and that’s what she should do.

She’s also the most fragile, with that ideal family leaving her defenceless against the reality of her chosen career. She is the one to protect.

She’ll take the losses hardest.

* * *

The middle child is the prodigy, the one everyone sees shining brilliantly against his siblings. He proves himself with sheer ambition and a cool head, and refuses to sink into the middle. He’d be the first to scoff at the idea of being part of this family. He has none, they sunk into the ground in blood and torture before he even graduated. He protects his siblings and destroys them all at the same time, trading barbs and punches in equal measure. He slinks into the background but never really manages to hide from the adoring fans.

He’s already broken and guards the shattered pieces of his life with ice and fire, so that anyone getting too close burns. He’s the one to save.

He’ll leave once the spotlight moves.

* * *

The youngest child is trouble, ever overlooked and always shouting for the world to recognise him. He has no patience, no subtlety, and he makes himself impossible to ignore. He clings to the idea of this cell as family, because he’s never known his own. He frustrates his older siblings and refuses to leave them to wallow in their darknesses and failures. He resents the way his father never quite looks him in the eyes, the way he spends so much of his energy on his over-talented older siblings and none on the ‘dead last’ - just like everyone else. He doesn’t know just how much of his father’s sensei lives in his face and hair, and how it breaks his father’s heart to see those eyes and that bird’s nest living on in his youngest child.

He picks himself up and puts himself together, buries pain under jokes and bright smiles until he starts to believe it himself. He’s the one who will save.

He’ll change the world.

**Author's Note:**

> I was double checking birthdays when this came to me. For reference:
> 
> Tsunade/Sakura | August 2 / March 28  
> Orochimaru/Sasuke | October 27 / July 23  
> Jiraiya/Naruto | November 11 / October 10


End file.
